GM says no more tailpipe emissions by 2035, carbon neutrality by 2040

Randy said:

I asked questions that others are asking as well around a simple question..............Can the change to EV's and achievemnt of Carbon Zero be obtained and sustained without the generation of GHG's (CO2) with present technology?....The answer is binary Yes or No.

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It's an obviously loaded question. The answer to it, in binary form, is "no." But the question assumes that "present technology" will persist forever. The fact is that related industries advance in parallel, and not independently. In places where there is still high dependency on coal for generation of electricity, the effects on GHGs will probably be increased, if only slightly. What this means is (and I'm pointing out the bloody obvious here) that because the top-level goal is reduction of pollutants in the atmosphere, EVs are only one part of it, and there will be concomitant reductions in all sources.

This is a topic that's been studied extensively, and to think that there's a dearth of knowledge or simple talking points are a reasonable substitute for educating oneself is just silly.

Jim Wynne said:

But the question assumes that "present technology" will persist forever.

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Exactly. An obvious example is battery technology. Lithium based batteries will soon be replaced with much higher performing products, as there is tremendous efforts on R&D for battery technology.

When you add the potential of these disruptive technologies such as mass scale AI, 5G, additive manufacturing, autonomous driving, quantum computing, etc the pace of change will skyrocket.

I am still waiting to see how we are going to build and pay for the electronic charging system required to support all of the vehicles.
You can't only charge these things at home. And what about people without the infrastructure to install charging at home, like apartment dwellers?

dwperron said:

I am still waiting to see how we are going to build and pay for the electronic charging system required to support all of the vehicles.

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Not sure what the challenge is here. But, shifting the paradigm, for those who live in an urban setting, chances are you would not need to own a car, if you had ultra-reliable, on demand transportation systems. Imagine a Uber on steroids, and any time you need to go somewhere, you could have instantaneous transportation using an app. A private car is idle, for most people, over 90% of the time. What a wasted "investment". If people did not own cars, they would not have to have a garage or car port at home. Public parking spaces could be converted into much more useful areas/buildings. The paradigm shift is enormous.

dwperron said:

You can't only charge these things at home.

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Why not? With over 400 miles of range and the average commute of 20 miles, certainly, for many people, over 80% of their charging happens at home. On top of that, public charging stations are becoming ubiquitous.

dwperron said:

And what about people without the infrastructure to install charging at home, like apartment dwellers?

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Another easy problem to be solved, if and when there is a significant demand for charging stations in apartment buildings.

There is prototype technology now for 10 minute charging of car batteries. With this charging ability which will probably require specialized high current stations (maybe like we have now for fuel?) Most people won't need their own charge stations. Firms working on these batteries are talking about commercialization in five years.

Easy....until someone wants to build one of the many new power plants that will be required and no one wants in in their area/state.

dwperron said:

I am still waiting to see how we are going to build and pay for the electronic charging system required to support all of the vehicles.
You can't only charge these things at home. And what about people without the infrastructure to install charging at home, like apartment dwellers?

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Just like in the early days of autos, as in if you wanted gasoline you had to find a hardware store?

There are already 5 or 6 charging stations within 10 miles of me.

E.g.: Chargemap - charging stations for electric cars
PlugShare - Find Electric Vehicle Charging Locations Near You
Find every public charging station for electric cars | ChargeHub

If there is a profit to be made, and there is, people/companies will build charging stations, and plenty of them.

Some apartment complexes already have them - Apartment EV Charging & Ownership May Be Easier Than You Think

Why not? With over 400 miles of range and the average commute of 20 miles, certainly, for many people, over 80% of their charging happens at home. On top of that, public charging stations are becoming ubiquitous. Another easy problem to be solved, if and when there is a significant demand for charging stations in apartment buildings.

Not everyone is "average". There are a lot of people out there where 400 miles isn't going to cut it.
As for "ubiquitous".... I don't know where you live, but charging stations are as rare as unicorns out here.
Never mind the idea of charging stations in our vast rural areas.
Hell, we don't even have high speed internet available for a big part of our country. According to the FCC "In rural areas, nearly one-fourth of the population —14.5 million people—lack access to this service. " And internet connectivity is a whole lot cheaper than vehicle charging infrastructure.

dwperron said:

Hell, we don't even have high speed internet available for a big part of our country. According to the FCC "In rural areas, nearly one-fourth of the population —14.5 million people—lack access to this service. " And internet connectivity is a whole lot cheaper than vehicle charging infrastructure.

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Another problem being addressed by Elon Musk via the SpaceX Starlink enterprise, being currently deployed.

dwperron said:

Not everyone is "average". There are a lot of people out there where 400 miles isn't going to cut it.
As for "ubiquitous".... I don't know where you live, but charging stations are as rare as unicorns out here.
Never mind the idea of charging stations in our vast rural areas.

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The same could have been said of gas stations in the early 20th century. Why assume that the current state equals the future state, ad infinitum?